For the Sake of Chickens!!!

So, I have to share an interesting story today. Dad has been talking about starting up some chickens and who would have thought it would come to this. By 'this', I mean...

Dad's been calling around trying to find out how many chickens he can keep by law. (He lives in the county and not in the city.) Well, according to the county law, he can't keep any! (He lives on an acre too!) Crazy. So, he started calling around and finally wound up talking to our County Commission Vice Chair today. There's a county commissioners meeting scheduled for this month and guess what's on the agenda? Chickens! As Dad was talking with the CCVC, she had NO education about chickens what-so-ever, yet she was bringing this before the board. (sigh.) She's in the process of writing up a new ordinance to be passed and asked MY DAD for help! Dad has some experience in zoning, etc. Then, he calls me for some information about chickens. Well, we were talking about the fact that most cities have a maximum amount of chickens you can have. We have a max in our city and it's not very many. There's a problem with this max number though.

Say you have a maximum of 5 chickens that you can keep. You keep those 5 chickens until they stop laying eggs, right? Well, now you're back at square one with baby chicks and you have to wait 6 months until they start laying eggs. That's 6 months with no eggs. You have to keep your chicken cycle up, right? When you have hens that are getting within 6 months of stopping their laying, you need to get babies to replace those hens when they stop. That would leave you with more than 5! (These are things that our commissioners aren't thinking about because they've never raised chickens!)

Anyway, Dad is going to work with our Commission Vice Chair on some details that should be added and subtracted to the ordinance. He's meeting with another friend of ours who sold us our first chicks. She's been on our local news and has been raising chickens for years. She's a sweet, Christian lady and if anyone knows chicken details, she does!

(Am I boring you yet with chicken news?) ...smile.

So, in a nutshell, Dad and I will be working together, along with our friend "S", to make sure that chickens will continue to be allowed in our county and the maximum number should be raised.

The county commissions office is holding a meeting soon and you can bet that Dad, "S" and I will be there. Now, I'll be recruiting others to help show support by coming to that meeting. Even if you don't personally raise chickens or you don't buy them from a local place that has egg laying hens, show support of local farmers and get involved! If we don't choose to get involved, our cities, counties and govornment will continue to make decisions without our involvement. Even if we're just talking about chickens. Yes, chickens. :)

So, for the sake of chickens, this is Kelli signing off.

Have a blessed day everyone!

PS: My baby girl is ONE today! (tear)

I have tons of pics and videos I have uploaded. Now, to organize them and share. Maybe tomorrow!